"The Single Market is the European Unions’ grown jewel, and online is its natural new home. So let’s bring down those barriers”, announced Neelie Kroes (Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda for Europe) in June 2014, preceding the Global Ecommerce Summit in Barcelona, Spain. As a reminder, the European Commission (EC) states: "The Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) aims to reboot Europe's economy and help Europe's citizens and businesses to get the most out of digital technologies. It is the first of seven flagships initiatives under Europe 2020, the EU's strategy to deliver smart sustainable and inclusive growth. Launched in May 2010, the DAE contains 101 actions, grouped around seven priority areas." The original Europe 2020 agenda was planned to run from 2014 to 2020 with a €80 Bn (>$102 Bn) budget. If you want to know more of the EC’s ambitious objectives for the European digital market and economy, click here. If you prefer to watch videos, this is fun and instructive.
So four years on, where are we now? After three years of material investment and progress, the program was severely curtailed in 2013 by the budget cut (recession hits the EC, late but hard?), from €9.2 Bn to €1 Bn, of the digital part of the Connecting Europe Facility, the investment vehicle funding the EU’s 2020 digital agenda. Nevertheless an omnipresent and upbeat Kroes assures us that the EU is “on track to hit 95 of its 101 Digital Agenda targets by 2015… The main piece of good news is that at the end of 2013, 100% of the EU population had some kind of basic broadband access, be it via DSL, fibre, cable, mobile or satellite. Fixed broadband with a connection speed of at least 30 Mbps is now available to 62% of the population, compared to 54% at the end of 2012 and 29% in 2010. 72% of the population can now be classed as regular Internet users, which leaves the EU very close to its target of 75% by 2015.” If you want to know how EU countries are progressing, who is and is not up to speed, check this out, it's intriguing.
In order to meet the DAE 2020 objectives EU Governments are forced into taking matters into their own hands. In August 2014, the (we can do this) German Government passed a national Digital Agenda bill aimed at further developing high-speed data lines, improving internet security (anything to do with the US NSA?) and fostering cyber-related entrepreneurship. Plans include the installation of high-speed internet across the country by 2018, as well as the creation of 15,000 ICT companies annually, up from 10,000 at present. The (we need a hand out) Italian Government, similarly challenged, state they wanted €5 Bn and will look to the EU regional development and cohesion fund. The EU reported that Italy was lagging behind other EU countries in meeting the target of 100% access to high-speed broadband of over 30 Mbps, with just 20% of the Italian population having access to such speeds, compared to almost 100% in the Netherlands and Malta. The (we will do à la Française) French Government looks to public (policy and directives) – private (money and execution) initiatives. Other EU countries are watching: if it works this will serve as an EU model, to achieve those DAE 2020 goals.
There are many organizations in the DAE 2020 driving seat, including DIGITALEUROPE, that are worth knowing about, especially if you are in “ICT” (if you are not, do be aware that the online digital platform and toolkit for your EU business is there and is growing rapidly). They represent the digital technology industry in Europe, participate in the development and implementation of EU policies, members include 58 (of the biggest…) corporations and 36 EU ICT trade associations. There is a continuous stream of useful information, check out the webinar on the 26th September 2014, "Big & Open Data in Europe: A growth engine or a missed opportunity?" and get the DEMOS/WISE report. Manifestations of the success of the EU digital economy include: in 2013 EU online revenue of B2C goods and services grew by 15% to €277 Bn ($355 Bn), the number of websites has grown to 650,000 and > 2 million jobs created. Ecommerce expenditure projections for the B2C sector are: > €380 Bn by December 2014 and > €560 Bn by December 2016, providing insight into where business opportunities in, out and a-bound.
If you don't want to lag behind, check out our ebook that further outlines European online environment and provides you with tips on how to create country specific websites:
